From the mid-1990s to the mid-2000s, the experiments of New Institutionalism attempted to change the art institution, the medium of the exhibition and our understanding of the public(s). This happened in the context of the erosion of the welfare state and the growing corporatization / financialisation of culture, a process which has become even more evident today. Then and now, in order to survive, art institutions need to both adapt to and resist the very conditions of the system in which they are embedded. What can we learn from the experience of New Institutionalism? What are the priorities that art institutions should address today? What could standing vertical in a flat world (Pascal Gielen) mean in their case? What roles could small and medium size institutions have in this process?

During the public session of the New Institutionalism Reading Group we will read and talk about selected excerpts from texts by Jonas Ekeberg, Alex Farquarson, Pascal Gielen, Chantal Mouffe, Nina Möntmann and Jorge Ribalta, and discuss the situation of art institutions today.